Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)Looking to lose that spare tire? Ideal weight 200+? Frustrated being a large cyclist in a sport geared for the ultra-light? Learn about the bikes and parts that can take the abuse of a heavier cyclist, how to keep your body going while losing the weight, and get support from others who've been successful.

I'm going to be doing a disc brake conversion on it, with avid bb7's and in the process will need to buy new disc brake-ready wheels. I'm looking for advice on a wheel to choose, being 260 pounds I'd like something nice and sturdy.

Price is a consideration, but if necessary I'd rather spend the money up front for peace of mind later.

spend some time talking with knowleadgeable people about this...hopefully you'll get some more responses here. I am 210 pounds and have had wheel problems many times (my commuting backpack weighs an additional 20 pounds). i never get off the street and ride a mtb. last october i had a mechanic tell me to get a downhill wheel as they are stronger than most. i followed his advise and still broke a couple of spokes in the last 6 months. my next step is to have someone build some wheels for me. i'm not much help but wanted to let you know their is potential for problems.

I have a handbuilt Velocity Cliffhanger laced to XT hubs with double butted dt swiss spokes and have no problems. In my opinion find a good wheel builder and ask questions. I went in and explained what I needed and used his experience to aid in my decision. Great wheels after over 10 k with no problems.

Would those front and rear hubs be worth while to use? I looked for 36 hole on both, both disc to accomplish my disc brake goal, as for spokes would it be necessary for me to buy spokes too, or would that be something I can just leave to the LBS to take care of?

Any issues you may see with the above setup, conflicts? I saw that for the one, it had the option of 100mm, and 135mm, I don't know what this refers to, can you explain it to me and what this size difference would have on my trying to get wheels/hubs/brakes squared away? Lol after all of this, then I have to decide on some tires. ^_^

Can anybody give me some insight on the listed components, how well they'd work together, whether I need to get something better, whether I'm getting "too much", your personal recommendations. I'll be bringing some of this information when I meet with my LBS mechanic and would like to be "armed" when I go in. Thanks!

EDIT: What do you all think about this rim? DT Swiss XR 350 It's only 32 spoke, but how would it compare to the Mavic in terms of strength? It's ALOT lighter, that mavic is a bit of a chunk, but then again, strength isn't free. I'm just curious if I'd be too much for it.

Would those front and rear hubs be worth while to use? I looked for 36 hole on both, both disc to accomplish my disc brake goal, as for spokes would it be necessary for me to buy spokes too, or would that be something I can just leave to the LBS to take care of?

Any issues you may see with the above setup, conflicts? I saw that for the one, it had the option of 100mm, and 135mm, I don't know what this refers to, can you explain it to me and what this size difference would have on my trying to get wheels/hubs/brakes squared away? Lol after all of this, then I have to decide on some tires. ^_^

Shimano hubs are pretty good. The lengths refer to width of the hub and therefore what frames it will fit. 100mm is standard width for a front fork and 135mm is standard for MTB rear dropouts.

I've been riding a pair of Suns laced to some Deore hubs for 6 years now.

__________________This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.

I've been looking around, and this set above has me curious. DT Swiss double butted 32ct spokes, Shimano XT hubs, and WTB FX28 rims. Any opinions on the FX 28 rim for strength? The complete setup isn't quite as heavy as that Rhyno setup, but its certainly not as light as the 400 dollar wheel setup I mentioned earlier.

Obviously I'd love the 400 dollar setup, but that's pricey. The Sun Rhyno is priced much more attractively, but is there any reason the link I just posted from Jenson USA wouldn't fit the bill? Hopefully I'll get this all "finalized" soon and buy parts within the month. No hurry though, we managed to get above freezing for the first time weeks...be a while before I *want* to be out on the bike anyways!